Business Studies

Management Track

Introduction

The management track provides an introduction to general management theory and practice. It is for science students who consider employment opportunities in industry, and who are looking to acquire knowledge of business principles and training in managerial skills.

Who can join this track?

Students enrolled in any of the following Leiden masters programmes are automatically eligible to enrol in the Business Studies specialisation: mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, life science & technology, bio-pharmaceutical sciences, computer science, and biomedical sciences. Students enrolled in other masters programmes should check their eligibility with their programme’s study advisors.

Goal and objective

The goal of the track is that upon graduation, students will be better able to find an organisation and get a suitable position to start their career and be better able to function in a business environment.
The objective is that students will have sufficient insights, knowledge and skills in some of the fundamentals of business, and in particular also business that is science-based, to be able to reach that goal.

Content

The management track consists of 40-60 ECTS and comprises the following elements:

• The mandatory courses of the management track are Strategy, Marketing, Financial Management, Technology and Operations Management, and Research Methods (20 ECTS). These courses are taught as a block and offered twice per year starting in September and in February. These courses are designed to familiarise students with the basic managerial toolbox and to provide an introduction to key concepts and frameworks across management subfields.

• In addition to these mandatory courses, students can take courses from the SBB electives course portfolio, or of approved courses that are offered as electives elsewhere.

• During the Business Studies Internship (20-40 ECTS) students put into practice and further develop knowledge and skills learned in class. Students also become a subject matter expert in the field of the internship, and gain valuable experience towards the job market. Internships last between 3-6 months and can be done in the Netherlands or abroad. Examples of recent internship projects can be found on the SBB website.

Teaching method and participation

The core of this track consists of “practicals” in the form of both individual and group assignments (case analysis, essay and report writing), case discussions, presentations, etc. These “practicals” are linked to and deal with the formal knowledge which is in the books, readers and notes you need to study. A typical day involves reading a case, analyzing it, also based on knowledge provided in articles and books, with your group preparing an answer (short essay or powerpoint presentation) to deal with the case issues and then finally a full group case discussion conducted by the lecturer who will also elaborae further on the formal knowledge you can extract from the case.

Because the “practicals” are the basis for the learning in this course, participation in all sessions is mandatory.

Schedule

This track is organised twice:

• Starting in September - ending in December

• Starting in February - ending in May
  The exact schedule can be found on the SBB website.

Exams and Grading

There are four formal individual tests for which you need to reach passing level to get a grade for the course. In addition, assessment of the group work, case preparation, participation in case discussions and the final report and presentation to be delivered are part of the grade . The final (relative) grading of this course is based on a weighted average of the grades of all tests and assignments.

Brightspace

For each course a separate Brightspace page is created. Students are automatically enrolled in this course if they enroll themselves for the course in uSis. Lecture notes, assignments, important announcements etc can be found at Brightspace.

Application

Students have to register for the courses within the track via uSis. Click here for instructions.
The class numbers for uSis can also be found on the SBB website.

Organisation

This track is organised by Science Based Business.

For questions please contact info@sbb.leidenuniv.nl.

Business Electives

The Business Studies specialisation comprises at least 40 EC, of which 20* EC should consist of master courses from the Management Track. (* For Biomedical Sciences only 15 EC is required.) Next to these master courses students will also complete the SBB Business Studies Internship of at least 20 EC. An additional maximum of 20 EC can be chosen from the set of electives mentioned below.

Students that have followed the SBB minor can choose courses from this list to replace the already completed courses within their track.

Electives within the Business Studies specialisation:

Systems Optimisation (3 E, semester 1)
Leading & Managing People (5 EC, semester 1)
Business Intelligence (3 EC, semester 1) ∞
Digital Transformations (5 EC, semester 1)
Entrepreneurship (3 EC, semester 1)
Management Science (3 EC, semester 1)
Accounting (3 EC, semester 2)
Lean Six Sigma (3 EC, semester 2)
Managing the Digital Business (3 EC, semester 2)
Managing Innovation (3 EC, semester 2)
Marketing Analytics (3 EC, semester 2)

Note: These electives have limited places available and are offered only once per academic year. Students will be placed on a first-come, first-serve basis.

*∞ The course Business Intelligence is coordinated by ICT in Business. Both coordinators (ICT in Business coordinator & SBB coordinator) need to be informed.

Students that are interested in following one or more of these business electives, are asked to follow these steps:

Step 1: Check the (preliminary) schedule for the course(s) in the e-Prospectus and/or the SBB website to see which courses fit within your own schedule. Attendance for these classes is mandatory. If you need consultation about your schedule, please send an e-mail to info@sbb.leidenuniv.nl to make an appointment.
Step 2: Fill out the online application form to confirm your choice of elective(s). This form serves to register all interested students. It does not yet make your application final! You will receive an e-mail within a month concerning your registration status.
Step 3: Register for the course(s) in uSis.

Master Specialisation after SBB Minor

Students that have followed the SBB minor can also follow the Business Studies master specialisation.

In that case, students can replace the 15 EC of 'management courses' (Strategy, Marketing, Financial Management, Technology and Operations Management*) from the minor with business electives (see other tab). Next to that, students will need to follow the course Research Methods (5 EC), which is not part of the minor.

In addition to the 20 EC worth of business courses, students will need to perform a business internship of 20-40 EC.

In total, by following both the SBB minor and the Business Studies master specialisation, students can take more business related courses than if they were to follow either the minor or master specialisation. For students who would like to supplement their science knowledge with business knowledge, it is therefore an interesting option to choose both the minor and master specialisation.

*The course Technology and Operations Management is part of the minor since September 2017. Students that have done the SBB minor before that, will have to follow this course as part of the master programme.